Werefairy
by Ariadnerue
Summary: In which Ruby stares at Emma, and Henry learns he has a werefairy god-grandmother. Oneshot, Charming Family feels.


Once Upon A Time belongs to ABC.

So here's this. I started it ages ago, before my last oneshot I think. Just found time to finish it today.

* * *

"Ruby. Ruby. Ruby!"

Ruby didn't flinch. Emma frowned. She was sitting at the counter at Granny's Diner, Mary Margaret on her right and Henry on her left. David was on Mary Margaret's other side, and the four of them were eating lunch. Emma was having some difficulty enjoying it, however, because Ruby had been sitting at the end of the counter staring at her for the past five minutes.

Emma sighed in frustration and turned to her mother. "A little help?" she muttered.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. "Red," she said sharply.

"Huh?" Ruby jumped, glancing over at Mary Margaret. "What?"

Mary Margaret tilted her head toward her daughter, and Ruby turned her gaze back to Emma.

"Ruby," Emma said firmly. "You were staring at me. Again."

Ruby grimaced. Emma had caught Ruby staring at her no less than eight times in the past five days.

"Sorry, Sheriff," she muttered, walking over to them and wiping up some of the mess Henry was making by blowing bubbles in his chocolate milk.

"Hey, kid, cut it out," Emma laughed, and Henry ducked his head guiltily.

"Red," Mary Margaret said gently, and Ruby winced.

"Yeah, Snow?" she replied uncomfortably.

Mary Margaret grinned and grabbed Ruby's hand. "Red, come on," she said quietly. "What's going on?"

Ruby glanced between Emma and Mary Margaret. Then, trying not to be heard by Emma and failing miserably, she whispered to Mary Margaret, "Have you… have you told her what I am?"

"A werewolf?" Emma suggested, eyebrows raised. She smiled. "Yeah, I've heard."

Ruby scowled at her. "No, not that," she muttered. "I mean… has she told you what I am to you?"

Emma frowned, confused. She looked over at her parents. David and Mary Margaret were both staring at Ruby, wide-eyed. Ruby blushed in embarrassment.

"I mean I know… I know it was never really official," Ruby said hastily, turning her eyes back to the counter.

"Red," Mary Margaret laughed, squeezing her hand. Ruby met her eyes hesitantly. "It was official."

David chuckled a bit and wrapped an arm around Mary Margaret's waist. "It wasn't a decision we made in the moment, Red," he said fondly. "We'd discussed it even before Snow was pregnant."

Ruby stared at him, clearly surprised. "Really?" she asked, smiling.

David and Mary Margaret both nodded, and Ruby blushed again.

"Wait, what are we talking about here?" Henry blurted. All eyes turned to him, and he just gave them all a look.

Mary Margaret laughed and put her free hand on Emma's shoulder. "Well, Henry," she began, grinning. "Red is Emma's godmother."

"Red. Red. Red!"

Red woke up with a snort and sat bolt upright. She was confused for several moments, trying to get her bearings. She was sitting in tall grass beside a thick hedge. The gray sky led her to believe it was late morning. She sniffed the air hesitantly, sure she had heard her name.

"Red! Red, we know you're out here somewhere!"

She frowned, confused. Prince James. The voice that woke her was definitely Snow, so the two of them were looking for her. She looked down and found that she was lying on her hood like it was a blanket, and everything clicked into place.

The full moon was last night. She had gone out running in the woods and come back to the castle in the early morning. Now she was waking up in the castle gardens with Snow and James shouting for her. She got to her feet and stretched.

"Snow?" she called through a yawn, glancing around. The hedges were only about shoulder height, so she immediately spotted the Prince and Princess. "Hey, over here."

"Red!" they both shouted in unison as they hurried over to her. Red blinked at them, confused, as they reached her. They were both grinning and panting like they'd run all over the castle looking for her.

"We've run all over the castle looking for you!" Snow exclaimed.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Red asked, though she was fairly certain that wasn't it. If there was something wrong, there would be much less smiling.

"No, just the opposite," James grinned. He wrapped an arm around his wife and they shared a look, and Red couldn't help but smile. The two of them were stupidly adorable. Snow started bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet, and James laughed. "Go on, tell her."

"I'm pregnant!" Snow blurted immediately.

Red started in surprise, her eyes going wide. "What?"

"We're having a baby!" Snow laughed, and James started laughing too.

Red suddenly felt very much awake, and her excitement bubbled to the surface. "A baby," she whispered, a smile spreading across her face. She locked eyes with Snow. "You're having a baby!"

The two friends simultaneously threw their arms around each other, hopping and laughing and crying and screaming together while James just grinned and rolled his eyes. One was a werewolf and one was a princess, but girls will be girls.

"Congratulations!" Red gasped when she and Snow finally calmed down a bit. "My gods, you're going to be parents!"

"Just try to keep it to yourself for a bit," James said earnestly.

"We came to you first," Snow added. "There are a few more people we want to tell personally before the word gets out."

Red barely heard the second part of what Snow said. She was staring between the two of them, sure she had heard wrong.

"Wait… you told me first?" Red asked quietly.

Snow frowned like it was a silly question. "Of course," she laughed lightly.

Red turned her gaze to James. He just nodded, a similarly confused smile on his face. They came to her first. Red couldn't believe it. Out of all the people in the entire kingdom, they ran all over the castle looking for her so she would be the first to know.

"Red? Are you crying?"

Red looked up to see Snow and James staring at her with concern. She had drifted off a bit, and now she could feel the tears on her cheeks. She laughed.

"Yes I am," she said simply, and she grabbed both of them in a surprise group hug.

"Red, why wouldn't we tell you first?" James laughed as she pulled away. Snow reached forward immediately to wipe the tears from her face with a gentle smile. "We want you to be the baby's godmother."

Emma stared. "Wait, you're a werewolf and a fairy?" she asked doubtfully.

"A werefairy?" Henry suggested excitedly.

"No no, not your fairy godmother," Mary Margaret corrected automatically. "Your regular godmother."

"We asked Red to be your godmother the moment we learned Snow was pregnant," David added, smiling.

"Oh," Emma stated, and it was clear by the look of surprise on her face that she wasn't sure what else to say. "Wow. Cool… uh…"

"I know it's weird," Ruby blurted. Emma gave her that fond half-smile of hers, but Ruby still looked uncomfortable. "I mean… what with you being older than me and me occasionally turning into a wolf and everything…"

"Honestly Ruby?" Emma interrupted her frankly, still smiling in amusement. "I've experienced weirder at this point, so don't worry about it too much."

Ruby grinned at her gratefully and nodded. "Okay, sure," she laughed.

"So… what, you're in charge of my spiritual upbringing?" Emma said with a smirk. "Because I'm pretty sure I was never baptized, so you're already way behind."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Very funny," Ruby said flatly, though she was smirking right back. "How about we have Mother Superior bless the sink and I can just get you with the sprayer?"

Emma genuinely laughed at that, and her parents and her son just grinned in amusement. "I knew there was a reason I always liked you," Emma said with an impressed smile. Ruby just rolled her eyes again.

"So… does this make you my god-grandmother?" Henry asked at length. The smile slid from Ruby's face.

"I changed my mind," she said abruptly, turning to Mary Margaret and David. "I don't want to be her godmother anymore."

Emma and Henry both pretended to be highly affronted. Mary Margaret just laughed.

"Too late, you accepted back in our land, remember?" she teased.

"Well that was before I found out I was going to be a grandmother in my twenties," Ruby huffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh and you think I was prepared for that to happen?" Mary Margaret shot back.

"Hey, you wanted to have a kid," Ruby held up her hands defensively. "It must have occurred to you that you could eventually be a grandmother."

"Yeah, eventually," Mary Margaret laughed.

"I'm still sitting here, you know," Henry pointed out loudly, and Emma just laughed and ruffled his hair.

"I happen to like being a grandpa," David said officiously, and he and Henry fist-bumped behind Emma and Mary Margaret's backs.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. "Why can we never have a normal meal together?" she sighed, but she and Ruby couldn't quite stop smiling at each other.

"Red?"

Red jumped and whipped around in surprise, only to find Snow standing in the open doorway behind her. Her eyes immediately went to Snow's stomach, where a growing baby bump was making her pregnancy more and more obvious.

"Hey Snow," Red muttered guiltily.

Snow just smiled curiously at her. "Why do you sound like you're hiding something?" she asked, a teasing note to her voice.

Red shifted her weight uncomfortably. "I'm not hiding something," she replied delicately. Snow just gave her a look, and she sighed. "I'm just… hiding."

Snow frowned and stepped further into the room. "Hiding?" she repeated, concerned. "From who?"

Red sighed again and glanced toward the balcony door behind her. "From you," she admitted, grimacing. She met Snow's eyes hesitantly, thinking she would be upset or angry, only to find Snow smiling fondly at her.

"Well if you wanted to hide from me, you probably should have chosen a better hiding place," Snow pointed out, glancing around the recently-finished nursery. "I've been spending a bit of time here lately."

Red sighed and opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. After a moment, she closed her mouth again and looked away. Snow just gave her a fond smile and moved a bit further into the room, laying a hand on the crib.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Snow sighed, eyes roving slowly over the bookshelves full of toys and settling on the sparkling glass mobile suspended over the crib. "This room… I could stay in here for hours." She unconsciously laid a hand on her stomach and sighed, a smile on her face. "This is where I'm going to raise my daughter."

Red froze, eyes wide. "Daughter?" she repeated hesitantly.

Snow grinned at her, nodding. "A girl," she whispered, breathless with excitement. "But don't tell Charming, I want it to be a surprise."

Red laughed a bit and looked at her feet, clearly unsure of what to say. Snow didn't push her to speak, just looked silently around the nursery with a smile on her face.

Finally, after a long silence in which Red sighed a number of times, the words burst out of her.

"I don't think I should be the godmother."

Snow frowned at her, confused. "Why not?" she asked simply.

Red ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. "I'm a werewolf, Snow," she muttered.

Snow smiled at her. "I noticed," she teased, but Red just rolled her eyes at her.

"I mean… I'm a werewolf, and your baby… your daughter is going to be a princess," Red sighed, struggling to put her thoughts to words. "She shouldn't have a werewolf for a godmother. That's not very… I don't know… royal?"

All of a sudden Snow was standing right in front of her, grabbing her hands in hers and squeezing. "Red, you have to stop doing this to yourself," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "Yes, you're a werewolf. But you're also my best friend. You helped me survive in the woods and take back my kingdom." Snow grinned at her. "To me, that makes you every bit as royal as I am."

Red stared at her for a few long moments before she threw her arms around her in a hug. Snow laughed, but she hugged her right back.

"You always know just what to say to cheer me up," Red said quietly. Snow laughed again, and this time Red laughed with her.

"That's because we're family," Snow whispered. Red sniffled, but she managed not to cry. Snow pulled back a bit to look her in the eye. "So anyway, I'm not accepting your resignation."

"Good, because I'm not resigning," Red shot back, grinning. She laid a hand on Snow's stomach. "I'm going to love this kid so much."

Snow squeezed her hands again. "She's going to love you too."

"Hey Emma?"

Emma looked away from Henry and David's heated game of rock-paper-scissors.

"Yeah?" she smiled over at Ruby.

Ruby paused, watching as Mary Margaret declared Henry the winner and David swore revenge. She laughed a little.

"I guess I just want to let you know… if you ever need me, I've got your back," Ruby said at last.

Emma smiled at her. "Thanks, Ruby," she replied quietly. "That… that means a lot."

"What can I say?" Ruby laughed, sharing a grin with Mary Margaret. "We're family."


End file.
